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This was in California. My American history teacher was a confederate defender. Marked it partial credit to say the Civil War was fought over slavery. Full credit for the answer “states rights.” Fully wrong when I said “states rights for its citizens to own people like property.” His ignorance was astounding even to my 17 year old self. When I recognized the joke I was dealing with, I treated the class like a joke.
Mr. Angle, I remember you and your bullshit.
He’s right though, the core issue was state vs federal sovereignty over internal matters which apart from slavery (yes, the biggest issue) also included tariffs and infrastructure investment (oh how times don’t change)
He was not. The confederates said exactly why the started the war in their declarations and it was, in fact, slavery.
There was no formal declaration of war, what declarations are you referring to?
When you frame it that way you make it sound like slavery was not the most pressing factor on everyone’s mind.
If this was unintentional, go read either speeches from the time or the declarations of succession from the southern states.
Our new government is founded upon . . . its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery – subordination to the superior race – is his natural and normal condition.
- Alexander H. Stephens, VP
An increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the institution of slavery, has led to a disregard of their obligations, and the laws of the General Government have ceased to effect the objects of the Constitution. The States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa, have enacted laws which either nullify the Acts of Congress or render useless any attempt to execute them. In many of these States the fugitive is discharged from service or labor claimed, and in none of them has the State Government complied with the stipulation made in the Constitution … For twenty-five years this agitation has been steadily increasing, until it has now secured to its aid the power of the common Government. Observing the forms of the Constitution, a sectional party has found within that Article establishing the Executive Department, the means of subverting the Constitution itself. A geographical line has been drawn across the Union, and all the States north of that line have united in the election of a man to the high office of President of the United States, whose opinions and purposes are hostile to slavery. He is to be entrusted with the administration of the common Government, because he has declared that that “Government cannot endure permanently half slave, half free,” and that the public mind must rest in the belief that slavery is in the course of ultimate extinction.
- South Carolina’s declaration of succession
I literally said slavery was the biggest issue, but good to see you read straight past that
The real answer is that the right side of the political spectrum has lost many of the major conflicts in recent history (civil war, ww2, segregation) - though this is absolutely not true globally. Theres no way to know for sure but we may perceive history very differently if those conflicts had different outcomes. Ultimately, history is written by the victors.
By winning these conflicts “liberals” have been able to shape reality according to their vision but the problem is they’re so used to winning now that they’re not (ideological) battle ready and some conservatives are just itching for some big wins and the oppurtunity to drag us all back into the stone age.
Damn liberals!
(that’s on behalf of our Lemmyleft folks. They refuse to listen to why that’s wrong.)
